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Drinmari Confederacy
The Dark Elves are a faction of Elves who followed Prince Morghain during the ancient elven massacre. Now, the Dark Elves fight a bloody war against their High Elf brothers, seeking revenge for the past and the right to maintain their stubborn independence and religion. Dark Elves are renowned for their skills with poisons, espionage and all forms of magic (specifically black magic). The Dark Elves worship a select few of "honourable" dark gods, believing that emotions should be set free and not controlled as the other Elven doctrine would dictate. History Those who followed Morghain, the brash but muscular second son of the Elven King (and the youngest of his three children), travelled far east, through the lands of the grey mountains towards their prophesied “Golden mountain”, as Morghain had seen in a vision. The mountain was said to contain great power. Upon arriving in the “promised land”, a vast wasteland of ash and smoke dominated by a “golden” volcano, the elves soon discovered the dark magic of the dark gods. An elect group of master dark magic practitioners soon adopted a religious position, that of the “followers”, and declared Morghain the “Rcia in velar”, meaning in pure elven tongue “the prophet of shadow”. In the modern day, this came to be known as the “Shia of shadow” as dark elven tongue developed. The dark elves, bitter from their conflict with mankind, adopted a brutal and amoral view of life, seeing it as a dog eat dog world in which power is the only tool. This did not make them “evil” so to speak, but bitter, cunning and savage at times, with all dark elves having a strong affinity with black magic. Black magic represents chaos, disorder and change. This is not always evil, but it simply allows evil. The lands of Drinmar were ruled over by the followers for many years, with the noble dark elven houses plotting and outdoing each other for more and more power and artifacts as time went on. This was dark elven society, but they soon became hated and feared. The high elves, worried about the Drinmari’s overuse of dark magic, lead a campaign to destroy the now darker skinned dark elves and their black mountain. The campaign was a brutal slaughter, forcing the dark elves underground, into slavery or worse. Many roamed the lands, being persecuted and hated by all for their demonic origins, and often leaving miserable lives. Many thought the dark elf race lost, with the followers vanishing underground and its people broken and lost, but little did they know that in fact the dark elves had simply regrouped underground. The current “most eminent lord of the followers” did not want to unleash his people upon the surface, because he could not control the houses and feared the loss of his own power to war, but it was soon discovered that a young Drinmari general, Ganroth. Granoth was strong, intelligent and ruthless, and with an army of elven warlords by his side, he was set to seize power of his people through the old ways of the Drinmari. A Shia had not been elected years, and never quite in this fashion, but Ganroth siezed it as firmly as Morghain had seized his own power. With his warlords, he first seized power of the followers, slaughtering the “eminent lord” and demanding the followers put him as his successor, which they did. Any who did not, were slaughtered on the spot. Ganroth then went on the bend the noble houses to his will, using politics and sometimes all out war to bring them into heel. The people loved him, he was a hero and a true paragon of the Drinmar, and he was soon named Shia. Leading a brutal campaign onto the surface, Ganroth slaughtered the high elves occupying Drinmar and took the surface for himself, retaking the homelands of the dark elves and enslaving all others. Government The Drinmari use an almost Feudal, vaguely tribalistic form of government. Regions and 'holdfasts' are ruled over by Warlords, who are chosen through a variety of means. Some hold their position through ancient election, others through merit and others through inheritance. Warlords hold absolute authority not over just the lands but the people living within it - a sort of serfdom heralding back to the nomadic days of the Drinmari. When the first Dark Elves travelled to Drinmar, they did so in 'packs', and so the Warlords truly have authority over the 'packs' and not the lands as is more common in Europan feudal governments. As a result, Drinmari warlords are prone to raiding other lands and moving their packs, although it is becoming more common for warlords to settle a homefast and raise money before going out on periodic raids. Drinmari society is highly religious, holding great loyalty to the faith of the golden mountain. The Temple of the Black Flame (sometimes called the Temple of the Golden Mountain) is the main force behind this faith, holding absolute authority over religious matters. The sacred sights and local temples each elect an exarch or exemplar, who hold a seat in the temple council. This council are responsible for finding and choosing the holy Shia, an individual who is seem to be a reincarnation of the leader-God of the Drinmari and effectively the absolute ruler of the Drinmari people. The Shia is usually chosen from outside the ranks of the exarchs and can only be chosen when the exarchs unanimously agree. As a result, there is not always a Shia, and those who are chosen are usually exceptional individuals who have successfully intimidated and dominated their way to the top. When there is no Shia, the warlords are vaguely governed by the exarchs who attempt to stop bickerings between the warlords, but during the rule of a Shia there is usually immense unity across the land. The warlords are reliant on both the temple and the Shia for their authority, as the concepts of inheritance hold less power in Drinmari culture. Warlords rule because of divine command, so when they lose the support of the church they can expect their people to rise up soon after. The faith is particularly strong in the lower classes and farmers, so for a warlord who has stayed from the faith to even consider standing against the Shia is sure to meet their deaths at the end of a pitchfork. The 17 Warlords *Clan Orvos *Clan Drekar *Clan Vel'ian *Clan Ambaas *Clan Elvail *Clan Hlanaros *Clan Maroril *Clan Tavin *Clan Telyth *Clan Velaando *Clan Xavien *Clan Norendran *Clan Pestulas *Clan Brohur *Clan Favarys *Clan Elaass *Clan Telsren Terrans.jpg|A Drinmari Warrior Maxresdefault.jpg|The Dark Shiah, Drakovian Ganroth. DunmerWarrior4.jpg|A Drinmari Chieftain